JohnD1956
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Posts posted by JohnD1956
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Good grief, the memory is really going. It's red with hubcaps. I know I saw a black one with the 14 inch ralleys on it and thinking "they really make that car"
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Glad your wives are supportive. Too bad the 51 is getting a bum rap. Chances are "labor" in the late 50's most likely was driving that exact car. And although it's a sedan, it's still sweet. And chances are you'll get less exposure to the skin damaging rays of the sun in that baby, thus keeping your wife looking beautiful too.
Have you experienced breakdowns in it before that she is concerned? Usually those cars are ultra reliable. But hey, maybe a nice 62 or 63 skylark convertible will fit her bill for something smaller and sexy. There is a fellow in Buffalo with a black one which sports a red interior and a 4 speed stick. Damn nice car! And it's finished with a set of Buick Ralleys which give it a whole different appearance. Gotta see if I can find a picture of it.
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Hi Roy,
Making a BIG assumption that this system is close to the one in the 95 Riviera, I found the electric motor that controls the heat door to be stuck. The motor itself is on the duct work, right behind the glove box. In the Riv I was able to get the glove box down and then remove the motor. Figuring the motor was shot I opened the case. Every thing inside looked good, so I put it back together and reinstalled it, planning to get a new motor. Then I found out it unjammed and worked fine for another three years ( after which I sold the car).
Good luck.
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What a nice looking car. The wagon looks great too. How many electra's are in your collection now?
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Good to hear your report. I think that's a fair price too. Happy drivin for the rest of the summer.
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Do you smell raw gasoline while cranking it? If so I'd check the ignition circuit. Coil, line to the distributor, points, condensor and wires inside the distributor. My guess is you'll find you need a new condensor.
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Nicely done Louie. And just in time to put it away for the winter:eek:. Still, it's ready for next year. Hope to see you at the Mills Mansion Show.
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Can you post a picture of the worn fuel pump ecentric? Perhaps the rattle you heard was from the fuel pump arm running on the worn ecentric?
As to the timing chain, look a second time at the camshaft gear ( the bigger one) and see if it looks like there is nylon or plastic covering the teeth. If so this most likely is an OEM gear, and then possibly the original gear set and chain. I have had cars where the slack in the chain is enough to prevent the engine from starting. The chain does not look damaged but the slack is the problem. I had one Buick where part of the plastic on the cam gear was broken off too. You already said you had plastic bits in the oil pan, so the gear set and chain may have been replaced already. And the replacements won't have the plastic or nylon on the big gear.
A full metal gear set ( no plastic) are often most reliable, for lots of miles. But usually a gear set and chain is relatively cheap, and if you had to have the cover off for that ecentric then putting a new chain and gear set on is worth it ( at least in my estimation it's worth it).
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Did you change the steel lines to the front wheels too? Sounds like a defective proportioning valve to me.
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The screws are recessed. You can't see them but unless at least one of them is there the horn bar would be in your lap with every turn.
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I can assure you that looks are deceiving when it comes to this. The chain stretchs and eventually you are off timing marks enough that the engine won't run.
As for the ecentric issue, if it wore sufficiently the fuel pump would not operate and you'd have 0 performance. But chances are way before that the pump arm would slip off and puncture your timing chain cover.
As for the removal issues in your other thread, I have done many of these. Perhaps the original 300 engine required the removal of the water pump but I'm sure the 340 which is the precursor to the 350 did not require removal. If you notice, there are bolts of two different sizes on the water pump. The larger diameter ones have to come off, the smaller ones don't go through the timing chain cover.
But if you do not remove the fuel pump. there is no way to ensure the arm of the pump will go on top of the ecentric, and you can definitely damage the timing chain cover.
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The water pump can stay on, the fuel pump has to come off.
I think the distributor has to come out, and it should be marked in two places before removal. One mark is the distributor housing against the timing chain cover, the other is the electrode on the rotor with the distributor housing. The second marking requires two marks, one is with the distributor before the hold bown bolt is removed, and the 2nd is when the distributor gear disengages from th camshaft gear. If you have done this before you'll recall that as you pull out the distributor the rotor will make a partial turn. You need to know where to start the rotor so it winds up in close proximity to your last timing setting when you reinstall the distributor.
Also if you've done this before you know you need a good sized jar of petroleum jelly ( Vaseline). You have to pack the oil pump cavity completely full in order for the pump to pick up the oil from the oil pan.
Did you ever find a manual for the 66 or 67 Buick with a 340 engine? You'll need that to determine the proper timing gear relationship.
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Sure do wish I could afford this one.
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Can I take a stab at this problem? I'm thinking that your short trips are not allowing the car to warm up sufficiently. Are you running a 160 degree thermostat? And how short are your daily trips? How fast do the plugs foul? Do you have 50 weight oil in the oil bath aircleaner?
Monitor the temp a bit. If you are running on the cool side you may want to try putting a piece of cardboard in from of part of the radiator just for testing purposes. The idea would be to get the engine hotter and see if this helps. If so you have to decide what to do about the thermostat. I know my 56 manual says to run the 160 thermostat, but if you are driving less than 10 miles each trip, I would bump it to a 180 degree. The drawback will be ho9tter temps if you do any highway driving
If you find something else to be the fault, please post the fix, as I would love to hear how you fixed it.
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Bill, I thought the Rochester carb was standard on the 65 401. Does your manual show that a Carter Carb was available on this engine? If so, that vacuum diagram ought to be in the factory manual. Look under Emissions, or look for the individual items that would be vacuum operated, like the vacuum advance and the HVAC Unit ,and the transmission vacuum module.
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Beautiful! I like the gas pump too. What's that color on the Regal GS though? That looks great.
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Wow, lots of great comments here. Please let me add a few
Assuming that: in order to save the BCA on a National level we need to grow the membership, here are some ideas for consideration.
1) Allow Local Chapters to include Non-BCA Members:
Considering the "Member at Large" Standard Operating Procedure( SOP), is there any reason Chapters cannot open their ranks to non BCA members? Several reasons to allow this change include:
* it offers NON-BCA people a chance to test drive the BCA.
* Lower initial cost to potential members for BCA linkage, which is a small but persistent factor in at least our area of the country.
* A chance for Buick owners to meet and develop relationships with established BCA members. These relationships, if satisfactory, would lead to greater participation locally and open the door for full BCA membership.
* A chance for the National to sell the BCA from within. We have a great club but regardless of our progress over the years, some who have been disillusioned in the past continue to cling to negative experiences, and taint the BCA before new owners can decide for themselves. This would allow people to see the positives and make a more informed decision as to their participation in the BCA experience.
Under such a program, the non-BCA member would still receive limited BCA benefits on a year round basis ( ie: no Bugle, or rights of full membership) but they would be linked to the National for events through the Member at Large SOP. And through this linkage the opportunity exists to boost the national organization..
2) Multi tiered Dues Structure:
If the idea above was incorporated into BCA operations, a multi tiered dues structure could benefit both the National level and the Local Chapters. Here’s one possibility for how it could work:
Option one: Join just the National, Dues $ xx.oo per annum
Option two: Join just the Local, Dues $ yy.oo per annum
Option three: Join both, Dues are $xx.00 discounted by d% plus $yy.00 discounted by d%. One payment is made to the National level, and the Local’s share is subsequently rebated to the Chapter on an annual basis. This is just one option, but the benefit here is a discount to belong to both organizations, and the member only issues one payment. It avoids the nickle and dime scenario which may impact some peoples decision about membership. It also provides incentive to join both parts of the organization.
And, further assuming BCA survival includes reducing costs, how about a new publication, a "Bugalette" for lack of any other name, which would be used in alternating monthly cycle with the Bugle? This could mean the Bugle gets printed six times a year, presumably on an alternating monthly basis, and in the off month, a smaller and less costly publication is sent. This Bugalette could include the Calendar of Events, Classifieds ( both advertisers and member ads) , Chapter and Divisional contact information, plus information regarding joining the BCA. Perhaps this schedule would allow us to cut costs but accomplish the goal of reaching all members at least once a month, which is important to keep people involved.
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I always liked them too...don't understand why GM got rid of all of the 2 doors.
While I too would love to see another Buick 2 door sport model, it's really not hard to understand. There's only a small population of the market segment that would consider two door cars. The much larger part of the market is not concerned and or prefer 4 door cars. So if a 4 door American car is already expensive to produce, imagine the cost of a two door model, and then GM is afraid they can't produce a car worthy of the competition at that price level. Sad isn't it? This from a former leader in the market alltogether.
Here's something eles to ponder, and I would like to hear an explanation for. Yesterday I saw a 2010 LaCrosse. A CX model which with additional equipment but no sunroof, listed for $29K. My 06 La Crosse which is the middle line model ( CXL) with everything including a sun roof was only $26K. Here's the part I don't get:
If GM , through bankruptcy, shed it's underperforming assets, and eliminated it's legacy debt for health care, and reduced wages of blue collar workers, and shed countless thousands of workers, And shuttered factories, and eliminated virtually all former debt, why is this new car with less equipment not less money than the 3 year old model?
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The arm looks kinda longish to me, like for a 59 or 60 with that wide angle windshield.
I had a 57 a long time ago, a convertible but I can't recall if the sunvisors hooked to the mirror side or not. I know my 56's do not have hooks. The mirror brackek would go on before the inside window trim I think, so it wouldn't have hooks for the sunvisors integrated.
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Thanks for the compliment on the house Bryan. I always liked what I think would be called the California Ranch ( or raised ranch in this case) , with that big overhang. But in Upstate NY it's kinds out of place. This place sat vacant for almost a full year before we happened upon it 12 years ago. I'm kinda worried that would happen again if we tried to sell it. I was thinking if I added a deck across the front at the level of the upper floor it would look like a swiss chalet. That might sell better in this snowbelt area.
Meanwhile the place was built in 1965, and it could use some work right about now, if I can just stop putting all my dough into the cars for a while.
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I'm proud of you kids ( men actually) ! Too bad we couldn't keep all those cars, although some of them, and more than a few of the others, did keep us a bit too busy at times.
Thanks for the kind words. I'll sleep good tonight!
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I'm going out on a limb here and hopefully I am wrong, but I think you will find you have a crack in the head, or block, around that cylinder with the bent push rod. I think the valve stem rusted causing the push rod to bend. If so the question becomes what caused the valve to stick. It could be that the engine sat for a long time in one position and moisture from the atmosphere invaded the cylinder through an open valve. But you mentioned this grey liquid. Even though I can't see it, this sounds like an oil and antifreeze mixture. That would mean some sort of compromise in any of several places. Head gasket blown, timing chain gasket compromised, or a crack in a cast iron piece.
You did have that low compression reading. Have you checked to see if the valves on that cylinder are closed? I'd remove the rocker arm from that bank of cylinders and then redo the compression check. Note, when you remove the rocker, if you pull out all the pushrods, you may want to keep them organized to reinstall them where they came from.
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Great thread, bringing up lots of memories. For me the test was in 1968, on Dads 65 Electra custom 4 dr hardtop. Can't recall much more about the test except passing it the first time. Back then NY took 3 days to mail you the result if you passed. Two days if you failed. Loved that Electra in Maroon with black interior and vinyl top. And drove it relentlessly too. But I was a bit disturbed with Dad because I had already been practicing in the neighborhood with his 55 Special ( stick shift ) for at least two years, and I so much wanted to drive that car on the open road. But he sold the 55 and got the Electra just about the time I turned 16 and got my permit. Oh well, although I never had the Electra in my name, all my brothers and sisters knew the Buick was John's car.
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That 63 is going to be the hit of the club when you're done Louie. Meanwhile the GSX Reunion looked like a fantastic time too. Was there more than just GSx's there?
gully cover in a 67 Riviera
in Buick - Buy/Sell
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I just wanted to say this is awful. Any chance of catching the vandal who did this?